


Monstertale

by Shinytriforce



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-28 06:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10075445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinytriforce/pseuds/Shinytriforce
Summary: "Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the monsters were victorious. They sealed the humans underground with a magic spell.The Barrier was created to confine all humans to the underworld, thus ending the War and sparing Monsterkind from humanity’s cruelties. The Barrier spell is known to be so strong that it is nearly impossible to break, guaranteeing the imprisonment of the once-feared and brutish human race forever."Believing the legends of humankind's existence to be only a "monstertale," a young monster child finds himself trapped in the underworld with a barbaric race bent on killing him and destroying each other. Can Monster Kid survive the tribulations of the Underground, and bring hope to a humanity lost in violence and suffering?





	1. The Great War

 


	2. Fallen

 

__

_Unnnngh…_

Everything was blurry and dark. Why was everything so black? And where did this headache come from?

Monster Kid lay in a bed of golden flowers, and the sun’s light pierced his eyes. His vision slowly began to return after a few minutes, and the headache subsided -- but not completely. With much trouble, he finally sat up. His whole body ached from the fall, especially his tail, which felt broken.

_Where am I?_ He thought. Straining his two, round eyes, he stared up at the giant, gaping crater in the mountain. _This bed of flowers must have broken my fall._

"My parents are going to kill me,” he sighed aloud, laying back down in the soft bed of flowers.

“The noise came from over here!” Another voice called from the darkness. Footsteps rang throughout the dark cavern, growing closer.

Monster Kid shot up to his two feet instinctively, panicked and fearful. He didn’t know where he was, and he didn’t know where he could go, but he obviously needed to leave immediately. But _where_?

He heard panting and screaming up ahead. It sounded like several _things_ coming his way, and fast!

Suddenly, something grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth. He let out a gurgled scream.

“ARRRGH!”

“Shhhh…” the voice said quietly, whispering. “We’ve got to _go_. Now! Follow me!”

Shocked, Monster Kid turned around and saw a figure running away. The monster looked unlike anything he had seen before. It had fur on its head, as well as two legs, and two arms. The figure stopped around twenty monster steps away, turned, and gestured with its arms to follow him into the darkness. And then disappeared.

Monster Kid hesitated for a moment. He was always afraid of the dark, but what choice did he have? He looked back, seeing the light of torches coming into faint view beyond the caverns, turned… and followed the mysterious monster into the darkness.

 

* * *

 

He ran further and deeper into the mountain, his breath quivering from exhaustion and fear until the only footsteps he could hear was his own. Monster Kid did not have the convenience of arms like other monsters and frequently bumped violently into the mountain’s rough, stone walls.

“Hello!” he called out ahead desperately, hoping his guide was still there. His voice bounced along the cavern walls and came back to him with no answer.

_Hello, hello, hello….?_

He was alone.

The monster child stopped leaning his body against a giant stalactite. (Or was it a _stalagmite_? He could never remember.)

He was so, so tired. His tail felt like a dead weight, and his four lungs were working overtime. _I can’t do this…_ he thought. _I can’t run anymore… I gotta stop for now._

He sat down, sliding his body against the cold, wet rock. He leaned his head against it, curling his legs under his round chin, and began to cry.

His parents had warned him not to play on the mountain, but he really wanted to see for himself. Monster Kid loved to read stories about the fabled War of Humans and Monsters. He wanted to know if they were true!

He just wanted to know if _hoomans_ were real, or just a… monstertale.

“ _Are you okay?_ ” a voice said from far away. “ _You’re not hurt, are you?_ ”

Monster Kid stood quickly, shaking the tears away.

“No,” he said, voice quaking. “Where… are you?”

“I’m over here.”

The voice was closer now, this time, carrying a bright yellow torch. The light crackled around them warmly, bouncing off the cavern walls.

A figure walked closer to him, and Monster Kid gasped. He could finally see, but… he couldn’t believe it.

It was… wearing a striped shirt. Just like him. But it looked nothing like him!

“Who… who are you…?” He stammered. “What do you want with me? Are you going to hurt me--?”

“ _Shhhh…_ ” the thing said, standing in front of Monster Kid. “No, I’m not going to hurt you. My name’s Frisk. What’s your name?”

“My… my _name_?” Monster Kid said, slightly surprised. His parents weren’t particularly creative monsters, so they named him the first thing they could think of. “Um… I’m Monster Kid.”

“Oh _wow_ !” Frisk exclaimed. “You’re a monster? I’ve never met a _real monster_ before! But that name is kinda a terrible one…”

Frisk looked down at Monster Kid’s yellow striped shirt.

“How ‘bout I call you Stripe instead?”

“Um… I guess that’s okay.” Monster Kid said. He wasn’t sure who this thing was, but he had to agree that his name wasn’t very good. Stripe. It had a nice ring to it.

“So, you are a kid, right?” Frisk said, walking around him curiously. “You’re the first monster I’ve ever met. We haven’t had a new face around here in a long time.”

This thing continued to talk... a lot. Stripe’s head was swimming with questions. Who was Frisk. Was Frisk…?

“They’re over here!” voices called deeper into the cavern.

“Oh no, they found us!” Frisk whispered. “We’ve got to hide!”

The thing reached for a hand or something, but couldn’t find one, so it ran around to Stripe’s back and pushed him behind the stalactite ( _stalagmite?_ ). Frisk grabbed Stripe and pulled him close to make them appear as tiny as possible behind the rock. They both held their breath, waiting.

“I could have sworn I heard them over here!” An angry voice called. It sounded like a male.

“Maybe you were hearing things again, Scratch,” another voice said laughing, mocking him. This one sounded female, but its voice was deep and a little rough around the edges. “Like a rock.”

“I know what I heard! I have the best ears in the Underground,” the male growled.

“Right,” she replied, unconvinced. “Well, this has been a thorough waste of my time. The King will not be pleased to hear our report, regardless. Come on, let’s get back Scratch.”

The female figure walked back into the darkness until it swallowed her whole. Scratch watched as she disappeared, and then said out loud: “Whatever you are, I know you’re out there.”

He turned and followed his companion into the darkness. A few minutes passed after Scratch had left before Frisk spoke.

“I think the coast is clear.”

Frisk stood up, brushing the rocks and dirt off of its clothes. Stripe got up slowly, using the wall to leverage himself.

“Who were they?”

“Oh, um…” Frisk said, looking down at its feet. “That was Violet and Scratch, they are members of the Royal Guard. It’s their job to patrol the cavern, particularly the Hole. They look for monsters or anything magical that falls down really.”

“Magical? Monsters?” Stripe said slowly. “You aren’t… monsters?”

“No. We are not.” Frisk said quietly, looking up at Stripe in surprise. “I’m a human. We all are in the Underground. And you are in a lot of danger here, Stripe. We have to get out of here… now.”

“I um… I…”

_Hoomans. Underground. Danger._

At that moment, Stripe felt the crushing realization of the mistake he made when he climbed the mountain. He never thought he was _actually_ going to find hoomans or that he would be in any real danger. What was going to happen to him? How would he get back to the Surface?

And most importantly, if he did somehow get out of this, his parents were _definitely_ going to kill him.

“I think I’m going to pass out,” Stripe proclaimed suddenly.

And he did.


	3. Home

“Hello, dear… ” A soft voice called out of the darkness. It was comforting and warm, bad sounded like his mother.

Stripe opened his eyes, and the darkness dissipated. He was laying in a soft bed. The sheets were soft, and smelled of clean linen. It was mostly dark in the room, but a warm light from an old lamp shined behind the most beautiful figure he had ever seen. It almost looked like…

“Mom?” Stripe said, surprised. His vision was still a bit blurry.

The figure chuckled quietly.

“Not quite,” she said, bending down beside the bed, patting his head softly. “But you can call me that if you’d like. My name is Grace. What’s your name?”

“Um… I guess Stripe,” he said, somewhat disappointed. For a brief moment, he thought this was all a bad dream. But it was not. He wanted to cry, and somehow, the woman sensed this.

“Nice to meet you, Stripe,” the woman smiled warmly. Her hair was a deep brown that covered her shoulders, and she smelled of a sweet scent -- like butterscotch and cinnamon.

“Um…” Stripe said quietly, suddenly burning with questions. “Where am I? How did I get here? Where’s Frisk?”

Grace tucked the soft covers under Stripe, and he felt enveloped in warmth. A strange, calming feeling overcame him, and he could feel himself sink into the soft bed once again.

“I found you outside, underneath the tree,” the hooman woman said. “I didn’t know how you got there. You were unconscious... and hurt. I did my best to heal you, but…”

She looked down at her hands, and back up at Stripe. A deep sadness was etched into her face, almost like pain or sorrow.

“I cannot heal you by magical means,” she said. “Can you heal yourself?”

Stripe shook his head.

“Nope… sorry, I can’t. Monsters can only heal each other, but not ourselves.”

“Oh…” she replied sadly. Stripe looked at the cuts and scratches on his yellow body. He then noticed that his head was bandaged.

Just like Frisk, this hooman had really tried to help him -- a stranger. A monster. He didn’t want her to be sad for trying her best.

“Thank you, Miss Grace,” Stripe said, smiling. “I feel a lot better now, I don’t think I would be here without your help.”

Grace smiled back and gave him a hug, relieved. He winced a bit -- his body was still quite sore from the fall.

“Oh, sorry!” Grace apologized, jumping back to prevent any more unnecessary pain. She then stood up, looking as if she just made a major decision. “Stripe, I’d like for you to stay with me in the Ruins for a while so you can heal, how does that sound?”

“Oh, I can’t do that…” Stripe said stammering. “I can’t just stay here, I’m fine -- really! I need to get going and find my pare--”

He tried to hop out of the bed, but suddenly felt very dizzy and fell back into the pillows. Grace looked thoroughly unconvinced, and a little amused.

“Well, I think that settles it,” she laughed and tucked yet again him back under the warm covers.

Stripe was going to argue more, but then he stopped. Grace began to hum quietly in a beautiful, warm tone as she straightened the covers on his bed. After a few moments, she began to sing.

It sounded something like… a [ lullaby ](https://youtu.be/HbKrB8F0wY4?list=PLRnWRMIk6kQKYpADPXR70Z_4-muYT2DFH):

_Come my child_  
_Stay with me_  
_I'll protect you and your dreams_

_Rest my child_  
_Neath the tree_  
_Like its branches reach for me_  
  
_So let me keep you safe and warm here in my arms  
Think of the life that we could live_

_The joy that it would give  
Even if we're worlds apart_

_Stay in my heart  
Someday when you've a choice to make_

_I hope you'll think of me_

_Think of me  
Think of me_

_Maybe you’ll meet good friends_  
_And you’ll find your Home again_  
_But if you cannot stay  
I’m here for you anyway_

_So rest here Stripe and you will hopefully see_  
_Humans and monsters living together in harmony_  
_I hope that you will find your place Underground_  
_But for now close your eyes and listen to my lullaby_  
Goodnight Stripe  
Sleep well Stripe

 

As Grace finished the last note, the little monster began to snore.

She chuckled once again, stood up, turned out the warm light, and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

* * *

 

A week had passed since Stripe arrived beaten and broken at Grace’s Home. The monster was still unable to leave his bed due to his injuries sustained from the fall and his subsequent escape from the Royal Guard, and he was growing frustrated.

His tail was definitely broken. Grace did her best to place what she called a “stent” on it, which comprised of two broken branches from the tree outside wrapped tightly in a bandage. It was very uncomfortable to sleep with, and Stripe wanted to rip it off.

“Miss Grace, I don’t see what this thingy will do to help my tail get better…” Stripe said, clearly irritated by the hooman-made contraption constricting his tail.

Grace smiled patiently and explained: “I know it’s a bit annoying, but we’ll need to leave the stent on a bit longer -- at least for a few more weeks for the bones to reset--”

“WEEKS!?” Stripe exclaimed in a squeaky voice, beyond frustrated with the prospect of having to deal with the device for any longer.

As a monster that had no arms, he depended on his tail to do the legwork (pun intended). With his yellow tail, he could pick up nearby objects, throw things, hit switches, and solve monster puzzles. Living without his tail made him feel extremely vulnerable, and even a bit helpless.

“I don’t like this!” he huffed. “Can’t anyone here do magic? Hooman healing is just so… slow. And my tail is itchy.”

Stripe craned his neck around in an attempt to free himself from the stent with his mouth. Grace quickly caught him by the shoulders, giving him a stern look. He stopped fighting … for now.

“There’s only humans here in the Underground, Stripe, and as you know, humans can’t do magic. Only monsters like you can. It looks like we’re healing your tail the ol’ fashioned way,” she laughed.

“Why can’t hoomans do magic?” Stripe asked, suddenly curious. Yes, he knew this to be fact from what he learned in Monster School, but his teacher Ms. Dreemurr never spent that much time on this particular topic.

Grace’s face turned a little pale for a moment, but then she cleared her throat and explained.

“Well… it’s a bit complicated Stripe. As you already know, after the Great War, er -- that’s what humans call the _War of Humans and Monsters_ \-- humans were exiled as part of the terms for losing the War. Many of our great scholars believed that humans would have in fact won the Great War, but during the final battle, something very unexpected happened: our great magicians lost the ability to form magic.”

“Woah!” Stripe gasped, his eyes wide and in shock. He knew the gist of the _War of Humans and Monsters_ : how the hoomans surrendered in the final battle to the King of All Monsters, but… he had always assumed that hoomans couldn’t do magic at all, and not that they had somehow _lost_ their ability to do magic. He didn’t think such a thing was possible, and his Monster School textbooks _definitely_ didn’t mention anything about hoomans being able to do magic at all.

Grace continued -- this time, with a question that almost seemed to change the topic:

“How much do you know about SOULs, Stripe?”

“Um…” He gazed up for a moment as if searching the back of his brain for the answer. He felt like he was suddenly being given a pop quiz. He decided to start with the basics. 

“Well, I know that every living thing has a SOUL. My teacher says that the SOUL is… what did she say again? It’s the ‘essence of our being,’ whatever that means! My teacher says that a monster’s SOUL is a bit different from a human SOUL, but to be honest… I kinda dozed off during this part in school, so I don’t remember much more.”

Grace laughed heartily and patted Stripe’s head.

“Very good, yes, every living thing has a SOUL, and you are correct, monster SOULs and human SOULs are quite different from one another. Correct me if I’m wrong, but a monster’s SOUL is composed of their entire being, so that makes them weak at physical attacks, but strong with magic.

A human’s SOUL is different in that it does not make up our entire being, so our physical attacks are much stronger. But that also means, we have -- or _had_ \-- a limited ability to perform magic. Whatever ability we had before the War, we lost it during the final battle, and never got it back.”

Stripe sat quietly for a moment, thinking.

“Miss Grace, you said that humans could once before do magic before the War, so that means that humans still could do magic again, right?” A light grew in Stripe’s eyes.

“I mean, well, I guess so, but--”  
“What if I teach you how to do magic? Then we could teach the other humans and --”

“Stripe, no!” Grace held up her hand, stopping Stripe mid-sentence, his mouth gaping open in confusion and disbelief.

“But why Miss Grace? Don’t you want to learn?”

Grace looked down at her hands which clutched the hems of her purple dress, and took a deep breath.

“You’re a good kid, you know that right?” she said quietly. Grace unclenched her hands from her dress and wiped tears from her eyes. Stripe sat silently, and she looked up again and spoke in a hushed whisper.

“Monster SOULs are made of love, mercy, and compassion. Humans do not need any of these traits, and many humans live devoid of them. Most humans have at least one SOUL trait, but only certain human traits were known to exhibit the ability to do magic.

I believe that we lost the ability to do magic because what the human race did to monsterkind during the War changed not only us, but our SOULs as well. The magical SOULs were ones that exhibited monster SOUL traits, meaning they were filled with love, mercy, and compassion.

Most humans today are not kind, do not love, and would hurt you, or me, or even their own family or friends for a chance to get back to the Surface. While your heart is in the right place, Stripe, teaching humans magic again would have devastating consequences.”

Was this the danger that Frisk warned him about? Stripe couldn’t believe it to be true. All he had seen from Grace was kindness, and Frisk had saved him from Violet and Scratch! Could humans really be… _bad_ deep down?

“Um… Miss Grace, are all humans bad?” Stripe asked, somewhat disappointed. What if Grace was somehow bad, too? Or Frisk? Suddenly, he wished to be back home with his kind -- he knew that he could at least _trust_ them.

“Oh, I don’t think so...” she replied, tucking the covers under him. “I think humans are just flawed in some ways, but it doesn’t mean we can’t learn new traits... or even change. My theory is that humans lost the ability to do magic because we lost our ability to be kind. We just need to be shown what kindness is again.”

“Yeah!” Stripe said, excitedly. “I can do that! I’ll be just like you Miss Grace, and maybe humans and monsters can live together again?”

Grace grinned widely at his excitement, slightly blushing.

“Well… I think that would be wonderful Stripe,” she replied. “But for now, let’s close our eyes and listen to my song. It’s bedtime little one.”

She then began to hum, and then her humming became singing. As he listened to her words, he felt himself drifting away into a deep slumber...


	4. Your Best Friend

As the days passed into weeks, Stripe noticed he was growing stronger and stronger. Despite how slow hooman healing was, his tail was on the mend, and he was finally able to get out of bed and move around.

He found that living with a hooman was fascinating -- most of the time. Stripe was not yet strong enough to help around the house since his tail was still busted up, but he would try to keep her company while she worked.

“What is that thingy used for?” Stripe asked while he was sitting at the table, watching her cook.

“Oh this?” Grace said, holding it up. A sizzling noise could be heard coming from the stove. “This is a spatula, I use it to flip the food on the pan. It helps me make sure it’s cooked properly on both sides.”

“Oh, that’s cool!” Stripe said excitedly. “Monsters just use magic to cook things really fast! I’d show you, but... the last time I cooked with magic, I nearly burned down Undyne’s house.”

“...Undyne?” Grace had a look of brief familiarity in her eyes, but it faded. “Is she one of your monster friends?”

“MONSTER FRIENDS?!” Stripe exclaimed, suddenly hopping up on the table. “She’s only the _coolest_ monster around! She used to tell me all of these stories about her travels to faraway places, fighting baddies and kicking butt!”

“Hmm, so she’s an explorer?” Grace asked, mildly gesturing for Stripe to get down from on top of the dinner table.

“Yeah! Something like that. Undyne is _so cool!_ I want to be just like her when I grow up. She’s been _everywhere!_ ”

“Well, everywhere but here!” Grace added. “It looks like you are on your way to becoming an explorer yourself.”

“Yeah…” Stripe said, and then unexpectedly, it seemed as though the excitement of the conversation suddenly evaporated. He slouched back down in his chair, staring at his yellow legs kicking from under the seat.

“Somethin’ the matter?” Grace said, turning the stove off and setting the spatula down on the counter.

“Well… yeah, I guess,” he said, seemingly lost in thought. “My mom and my dad didn’t want me to become an explorer like Undyne. They told me that I’d grow out of this, and want to become something sensible, like a monster dentist or something.”

“But you don’t want that, right?” Grace asked, sitting down at the table next to Stripe.

“No, of course not!” He proclaimed, somewhat exasperated. “I didn’t want to be a monster dentist or anything like that. That’s not me, but they wouldn’t listen to me… I guess I thought… I could prove them wrong.”

And suddenly without warning, Stripe began to cry.

“Oh Stripe…” Grace said, grabbing him and sitting him on her lap. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I…” He continued between sobs and hiccups, “I… climbed the mountain, even though they told me not to… And… and… they don’t know I’m even here.”

“Stripe…” Grace said sadly, rubbing his head. She grabbed a worn napkin on the dinner table and began dabbing the tears out of his eyes.

“They probably don’t… even miss me…”

“Now, that isn’t true, and you know it little one,” Grace said, turning him around on her lap. “I’m sure your parents really miss you and are worried sick.”

“Do… do you… think so…?” His sobs were becoming less frequent, although his eyes were still a bit red from crying.

“Yeah, of course!” She confirmed once again. “I”m sure they are really worried about you and want you to come home.”

“Home…?” Stripe repeated the word. To be honest, he hadn’t thought about his parents that much while living with Grace. He had just assumed that they had moved on without him.

“Do you think… I’ll be able to go home one day Miss Grace?”

“I… don’t know…” Grace said quietly, looking down at the young monster sitting on her lap. “With the Barrier keeping us all down here, it does seem like impossible odds. But… I’m sure we’ll find a way to get you back home, sweetie.” She gave him a tight hug, but he could tell that she was just trying to make him feel better.

The Barrier was a topic of conversation that came up every once in awhile at Home. It was not a happy topic, and while Stripe had many questions from the “hooman perspective” on it, he also knew that talking about it made Grace sad -- and he didn’t want her to be sad.

Stripe had learned a bit about the Barrier in Monster School since he recently had a test on it in his Monster History class. Being that he was a monster without arms, Stripe had to take oral exams, so he had often memorized his books for tests. He recalled a specific passage from the beginning of his textbook _Of Man and Monster_ in the back of his mind:

The idea that it was _nearly_ impossible to break the Barrier sparked hope in Stripe. _Nearly_ meant that there was still a chance, no matter how small, to get home. And maybe, just maybe, he could take Grace with him!

Stripe felt a burst of energy from his body again.

“Miss Grace!” he said suddenly, jumping down from Grace’s lap and face-planting on the floor. “Ow…”

Grace looked thoroughly confused for a moment.

“Are you okay Stripe?”

“Miss Grace, Miss Grace!” Stripe repeated again, hopping back up as quickly as he fell.

“Uh yes?” she said, more confused now than before. Maybe he bumped his head after falling on the floor?

“Where’s the Barrier!? We’ve got to leave right now!” he shouted excitedly, running and hopping around the dinner table towards the door.

Grace had a grimace on her face.

“Stripe! What are you talking about--?” she said slowly, trying to inject calmness into her voice.

“The Barrier, Miss Grace!” Stripe repeated quickly, this time somewhat frustrated with Grace’s excitement. “We should go try to break the Barrier! Then I can go home and see my parents again, and you can come live with us!”

“Oh, I uh--” Grace stumbled, “I don’t… think that’s the best idea…”

“It’ll be great!” Stripe replied, ignoring her. The idea of Grace coming back to live with him and his family excited him. He had so much he wanted to show her about the Surface: his favorite books, his Monster School, his favorite menu item from Grillby’s…

“Stripe--” Grace said, but he interrupted her again.

“I’m sure all of the monsters would love to meet you! Oh man, I can’t wait to take you by Temmie Village. They sell the best dog residue--”

“Stripe, no! Just stop.”

Stripe stopped dead in his tracks. Grace was standing now, looking very angry. Her palm rested on the worn dinner table, her face white. Tears were streaming from her eyes.

“I said… no,” she said, quietly, but still forcefully. He had a hurt look on his face and felt like he had been punched.

“But… but why?” he replied. “Don’t you… want to see the Surface? Don’t you want me to go home?”

“I want all of those things, but it’s just not possible.”

“Why not!?” he replied, this time, feeling his voice rise. “My parents told me that it wasn’t possible to be an explorer, but here I am! My friends told me that hoomans weren’t real, but here you are! Do you think that I can’t do it, is that it?!”

He felt his body go into a defensive stance, almost like he was about to be attacked. But he wasn’t! This was Grace, she wouldn’t hurt him… would she?

Grace stood silently with a face made of stone and a deep cut grimace. At this point, Stripe was practically screaming at her.

“Why don’t you believe in me, Grace! You of all people, I thought you believed in me!”

“Look, I’m sorry I--” She took a step forward in an attempt to pacify the situation, but he repelled her. Everything Stripe thought about Grace was all a lie.

“Just leave me alone!” he screamed, this time with tears in his eyes. He ran toward the door with Grace on his tail. Jumping up quickly, he curled his tail around the handle of the front door and opened it. He ran out, not looking back.

“Please no... don’t leave!” Grace cried out of the front door, her voice booming off the cavern walls. “Please come back! They’ll kill you Stripe!”

But if Stripe did hear her, he did not turn around. He ran past the withering black tree and disappeared into the black darkness of Mt. Ebott.

 

* * *

 

Stripe ran, and ran, and ran. He ran until he could no longer feel his two legs carrying him deeper and deeper into the mountain. He ran until he could no longer sense the burning sensation gather deep in his lungs. He ran until he could no longer breathe and no longer stand.

He ran and ran until he came across an odd sight: a patch of green grass illuminated in the middle of an otherwise empty and dark room. There was no way _anything_ could grow down here under the mountain -- but yet -- here was a patch of green grass, and in the very middle of that grass grew a golden flower.

The monster was so entranced by the sight, he stopped running, collapsing in front of the flower onto the grass.

“...How… is this… possible?” Stripe gasped, suddenly realizing the weight of his own breath on his body. His lungs squeezed and burned. It took everything inside of him not to pass out again.

“Howdy!” The flower said.

“...AAAAH!”

Stripe was now five monster feet away from the flower, huddled in a ball and terrified.

“Y-y-you can talk!” He sputtered. How was this real? Was this a dream? One thing Stripe knew for sure: plants can’t talk.

Well, not in the traditional sense at least.

“Oh... where’re you going, kid?” the flower crooned. Stripe could have sworn that the flower rolled its eyes at him. “Come a little closer now, don’t be _shy_ …”

Stripe felt something snake around his ankle. He looked down and saw his leg entangled in a vine. In a momentary fit of panic, Stripe tried to kick the vine off, but then, he was hoisted into the air and dumped back into the center of the room -- right back in front of the smiling, impossibly ebullient flower.

“Where are you going? We only just met and now you want to run away...” The flower said almost sadly, its petals drooping. “We haven’t even been formally introduced!”

Another vine popped out of the ground, this time, appearing in front of Stripe’s face.

“I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower - your best friend!”

Stripe sat there in shock, blinking slowly.

“Well, don’t be rude!” Flowey scoffed. “At least shake your best friend’s hand.”

And then Flowey noticed that Stripe did not indeed have any hands (or vines for that matter) and his “hand” quickly returned back under the earth.

“So… I haven’t seen anyone like _you_ here in awhile. You must be so confused!” Flowey said.

“... Uh…Yeah, I guess I am,” Stripe replied. “How are you talking? I didn’t know flowers could talk!”

“Yeah, well uh, us flora are good at keeping secrets,” Flowey replied, his eyes shifting lower.  “So speaking of secrets, I’ve been watching you for a while kid. You really let that human HAVE IT! I bet she’s _really_ upset - but she totally deserved it.”

“What do you mean?” Stripe replied slowly. A wave of guilt washed over him like a cold shower.

“Oh man!” Flowey laughed harshly. “That human is the _worst of the worst_. She feigns kindness and goodness and all that jazz, but really... she’s just a cold-blooded murderer.”

Flowey’s jublient face suddenly turned dark. Demented. Frightening.

Stripe backed away again.

"What are you talking about?” He said, feeling that guilt rip away at his stomach and boil into rage. “Miss Grace wouldn’t… she couldn’t…”

“HAHAHAHAHA! She would. She DID!” Flowey cackled. He _enjoyed_ this!

“You’re a liar!” Stripe yelled. “She would NEVER do such a thing! You don’t know her like I do!”

“ _You_ don’t know her at all… You’ve barely even been here in the Underground. You’re just some poor, lost monster SOUL who doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into. ‘Oh, I want to be an _explorer_!’ HA!”

Flowey continued to mock him mercilessly.

“You came down here all by your ‘lil self, expecting everyone to be _friends_ with you? For the humans to have mercy on you? You really _ARE_ an idiot.”

Flowey sensed that the monster was about to run. Vines wriggled their way out of the cold, black dirt - this time, grabbing Stripe by both of his legs and hoisting him up in the air.

“ _STOP!_ LET ME GO!” Stripe screamed, dangling upside down from high up in the air. He kicked and struggled against the vines, but they were too strong to break with his legs alone.

“Aw, how cute,” Flowey chided, and then reeled his prey in like a fish, bringing Stripe very, very close to his face. The flower began to whisper quietly. “Since I’m feeling nice, I’ll give you some free advice: no human here in the Underground will spare you. No one here will show you love… just _LOVE_. And I got some for you, right now.”

White bullets surrounded Stripe, who was swinging haphazardly in the air. He began to struggle harder against the vines, which were overtaking his entire body.

Stripe could feel the heat of the bullets, bullets that would surely dust him in an instant. In this moment, he knew he was going to die and he could do nothing to stop it. Not even magic could save him against this violent

Flowey cackled violently. “In this world, it’s kill or be -- !”

“Put him down!” A voice called out from the darkness.

A flash of light instantaneously illuminated the room. It soared past Stripe, leaving wisps and curls of fire in its wake.

The fireball nailed Flowey right in the face, singeing his petals. He screamed a violent scream, and retreated back under the dirt, letting the ensnared monster go in the process. Stripe fell aimlessly to the ground, landing flat on his face.

Dazed, he looked up and saw no one other than Grace standing over him.

“Grace!” he inhaled, gasping. “Y-you saved me… What… was that?”

She looked down at her hands, studying them for a few moments.

“Magic,” she whispered. “It was magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Textbook image source: http://imgur.com/a/WOuHQ


End file.
